Investigating memory reliability in intoxicated witnesses of crime. Eyewitness testimony is a crucial piece of evidence for solving a crime. Inaccurate testimony leads to miscarriages of justice such as failed prosecutions or false convictions. Many witnesses and victims are affected by alcohol or other drugs during the crime. This project brings together a multidisciplinary team aiming to improve understanding of how intoxication with different substances affects the reliability of victim and w ....Investigating memory reliability in intoxicated witnesses of crime. Eyewitness testimony is a crucial piece of evidence for solving a crime. Inaccurate testimony leads to miscarriages of justice such as failed prosecutions or false convictions. Many witnesses and victims are affected by alcohol or other drugs during the crime. This project brings together a multidisciplinary team aiming to improve understanding of how intoxication with different substances affects the reliability of victim and witness memory accuracy. Crucially, crimes are frequently distressing; therefore the interaction between intoxication and stress urgently requires exploration. This project will significantly advance our understanding of key mechanisms behind drug effects on memory, and support fairer judicial outcomes for all. Read moreRead less
Discovery Early Career Researcher Award - Grant ID: DE220100739
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$396,521.00
Summary
Measuring the sound of inner speech with advanced brain signal analyses. The overarching aim of this project is to develop an objective, electrophysiological marker capable of identifying the auditory properties of a person’s inner speech, which is defined as the silent production of words in one’s mind. This will be accomplished by combining novel experimental paradigms with advanced brain signal analyses. This marker would represent a historically significant event, placing Australia at the fo ....Measuring the sound of inner speech with advanced brain signal analyses. The overarching aim of this project is to develop an objective, electrophysiological marker capable of identifying the auditory properties of a person’s inner speech, which is defined as the silent production of words in one’s mind. This will be accomplished by combining novel experimental paradigms with advanced brain signal analyses. This marker would represent a historically significant event, placing Australia at the forefront of cognitive science. It would provide deep insight into the fundamental nature of inner speech, such as whether it is a “special form” of overt speech, and would inform the ongoing development of brain-computer interfaces aimed at deciphering inner speech for people who are unable to produce overt speech.Read moreRead less
Beyond Directional Motivated Reasoning: Social Identity and Partisan Truth. This project aims to develop and test a new model of psychological processes by which people come to understand information as true or not. This project expects to generate advances in knowledge about how different groups produce opposing understandings of the world ("partisan truth"), despite equally rational and unbiased psychological processes. Expected outcomes include the development of a single framework to explain ....Beyond Directional Motivated Reasoning: Social Identity and Partisan Truth. This project aims to develop and test a new model of psychological processes by which people come to understand information as true or not. This project expects to generate advances in knowledge about how different groups produce opposing understandings of the world ("partisan truth"), despite equally rational and unbiased psychological processes. Expected outcomes include the development of a single framework to explain current piecemeal findings, expanding the analysis to current and socially-urgent partisan debates over truth (eg, vaccine hesitancy). Significant benefits include advancing knowledge and the development of guidelines to aid policy-makers and educators in the ultimate reduction of social discord caused by partisan truth.Read moreRead less
Thwarted Identity: The Missing Link Between Psychopathology and Prejudice. Prejudice and the extremist violence that arises from it are typically explained either by the psychopathology of individual perpetrators, or by their membership of extremist groups. This project will seek to reconcile these competing explanations and resolve this impasse that has obstructed progress in combating prejudice. This project develops a new framework specifying causal and reciprocal links between the novel conc ....Thwarted Identity: The Missing Link Between Psychopathology and Prejudice. Prejudice and the extremist violence that arises from it are typically explained either by the psychopathology of individual perpetrators, or by their membership of extremist groups. This project will seek to reconcile these competing explanations and resolve this impasse that has obstructed progress in combating prejudice. This project develops a new framework specifying causal and reciprocal links between the novel concept of thwarted identity, psychopathology, ideology, and prejudice. Expected outcomes are new policy solutions and novel targets for interventions to reduce prejudice and extremist violence, which will deliver significant benefit by addressing these pernicious social problems.Read moreRead less
Discovery Early Career Researcher Award - Grant ID: DE170100078
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$375,000.00
Summary
Strengthening parent-child relationships to promote child adjustment. This project aims to provide new insight into how biological and foster parents can support their children during periods of heightened vulnerability when they transition to high school or a new foster care placement. It aims to address the shortage of relationally-focused prevention strategies tailored to both biological and foster parents’ needs and delivered at critical transitions in children’s lives. Outcomes are expected ....Strengthening parent-child relationships to promote child adjustment. This project aims to provide new insight into how biological and foster parents can support their children during periods of heightened vulnerability when they transition to high school or a new foster care placement. It aims to address the shortage of relationally-focused prevention strategies tailored to both biological and foster parents’ needs and delivered at critical transitions in children’s lives. Outcomes are expected to shed light on the effects of attachment quality and to advance evidence-based psychological practice in enhancing child adjustment.Read moreRead less
Older workers & psychological contracts: A dynamic perspective. This project aims to track the trajectories of older workers’ psychological contracts that shape their give-and-take with the organisation. Little is understood about how these psychological contracts change as older workers continue to pursue work through their fifth, sixth, seventh and eighth decades of life. This project tracks older workers over intensive, repeated in-depth interviews and a large-scale longitudinal panel study. ....Older workers & psychological contracts: A dynamic perspective. This project aims to track the trajectories of older workers’ psychological contracts that shape their give-and-take with the organisation. Little is understood about how these psychological contracts change as older workers continue to pursue work through their fifth, sixth, seventh and eighth decades of life. This project tracks older workers over intensive, repeated in-depth interviews and a large-scale longitudinal panel study. The outcomes fill significant gaps in our understanding of older workers’ needs and orientation toward work, and identify the age-related changes and organisational practices that spur older workers to sustain a strong trajectory of productive participation in the workforce.Read moreRead less
Creating perceptual experts in Australia's policing and security agencies. This project aims to create the next generation of experts in Australia’s policing and national security agencies, by improving crime scene evidence interpretation. Agencies are under pressure to develop more rigorous training practices that go beyond mere intuition and tradition. This project will use a novel approach that directs learning toward the most diagnostic perceptual cues. Expected outcomes include a solid empi ....Creating perceptual experts in Australia's policing and security agencies. This project aims to create the next generation of experts in Australia’s policing and national security agencies, by improving crime scene evidence interpretation. Agencies are under pressure to develop more rigorous training practices that go beyond mere intuition and tradition. This project will use a novel approach that directs learning toward the most diagnostic perceptual cues. Expected outcomes include a solid empirical basis for national training programs designed to create experts that are accurate, reliable, and continuously improving. Improving the training of experts will ensure the integrity of forensics as evidentiary tools available to police, lead to more reliable courtroom convictions and help safeguard Australia from terrorism and crime.Read moreRead less
Playing it Safe: Psychological Safety and Mental Health for Community Sport. At a time when over half of all Australians participate in organised sports it is critical to ensure that these environments are psychologically safe. The problem is that community sports clubs have no clear guidance on how to fulfil this substantial responsibility. There have been urgent calls for the development of psychological safety and mental health guidelines which have yet to be answered. This project will deliv ....Playing it Safe: Psychological Safety and Mental Health for Community Sport. At a time when over half of all Australians participate in organised sports it is critical to ensure that these environments are psychologically safe. The problem is that community sports clubs have no clear guidance on how to fulfil this substantial responsibility. There have been urgent calls for the development of psychological safety and mental health guidelines which have yet to be answered. This project will deliver the knowledge to underpin effective psychological safety and mental health guidelines for community sports with national impact. When implemented, this knowledge will help sports clubs to provide a psychologically safe environment, and promote the mental health and wellbeing of all Australians involved in organised sports.Read moreRead less
A community based social identity approach to loneliness. Loneliness across Australia is a deep concern. Social prescribing is a novel community-based approach to managing loneliness, however it is unclear when and in what circumstances it is effective. This project aims to test a social identity approach to loneliness, incorporating longitudinal, cross-sectional, and experimental methods to understand how best to engage isolated people in group programs. The expected benefits of this project ar ....A community based social identity approach to loneliness. Loneliness across Australia is a deep concern. Social prescribing is a novel community-based approach to managing loneliness, however it is unclear when and in what circumstances it is effective. This project aims to test a social identity approach to loneliness, incorporating longitudinal, cross-sectional, and experimental methods to understand how best to engage isolated people in group programs. The expected benefits of this project are to produce a validated social prescribing model that can be implemented in multiple settings across Australia in order to reduce loneliness, strengthen communities, and guide more appropriate uses of health services.Read moreRead less
Discovery Early Career Researcher Award - Grant ID: DE220100691
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$407,962.00
Summary
The influence of conscious state on cortical processing and perception. This project aims to understand the brain circuits that link consciousness with sensory perception. By using state-of-the-art imaging and electrical recording techniques, I will determine how different types of cells in the brain interact to transform sensory information into perception, measured under different states of conscious awareness. The project will apply the rigorous approaches of neuroscience to solving the puzzl ....The influence of conscious state on cortical processing and perception. This project aims to understand the brain circuits that link consciousness with sensory perception. By using state-of-the-art imaging and electrical recording techniques, I will determine how different types of cells in the brain interact to transform sensory information into perception, measured under different states of conscious awareness. The project will apply the rigorous approaches of neuroscience to solving the puzzle of consciousness. The findings will have major implications for our future ability to treat brain disorders and build artificially intelligent machines.Read moreRead less